For well over one hundred years, moving pictures have entertained viewers around the world. Advances in technology have greatly expanded the amount of available content, as well as the ways in which it is consumed. New delivery methods, such as streaming, and new modes of consumption, such as video-on-demand and “binge watching”, have resulted in a demand for more and more content. Viewers crave programming that meets specific needs and desires, and often are not completely satisfied with what is available. Although the number of content providers is proliferating, it is not feasible to use conventional production methods to satisfy the entire spectrum of viewer interests.
Conventional production methods utilize the experience of an editor and the vision of a director to produce a final program, whether for television or the cinema. Satisfying viewer interests, like versions of programming with particular types of sensitive content, (e.g. profanity, sex, violence, etc.) removed, or alternate versions of a program that emphasize or diminish certain aspects of the story, or deliver a different emotional impact, have traditionally required human effort on par with the editing of the original program. Additionally, these viewer interests are not uniform; one viewer may wish for all violent scenes to be removed from a movie, while another viewer may only want gory violence to be removed. Conventional video content production methods would require a doubling of effort to produce both these versions.
Another consequence of technological advances has been the ease with which video content may be copied and transmitted, sometimes in violation of copyrights. Conventional methods of providing video content have relied on paid subscriptions, and viewers wanting free content often have to deal with the interruption of commercials or other forms of advertising that disrupt the viewing experience. Video piracy is often an attractive alternative to these hassles.